This invention relates to construction technology, and particularly to a new plastic strip article and dispenser package as well as to a new method of roofing and new roofing structures formed using the plastic strip article. The invention provides a recycling use for plastic waste.
As plastic products have become ubiquitous, the amount of plastic waste has grown to intolerable levels for landfill disposal. Amongst the most popular of plastics for a multitude of consumer products (e.g., bottles, bags, cartons, etc.) are the polyolefins, including polyethylene. One recycling use for waste polyolefin plastic is as a substitute for lumber. Illustratively, Banerjie U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,662 of Jul. 9, 1991 directs itself to lumber formed by extrusion of waste polyolefin compositions. The plastic waste compositions heretofore extruded into lumber shapes (such as two-by-fours and four-by-fours) has not only included the compositions specifically recited in the Banerjie patent, but also has included waste polyolefin compositions containing cellulose fillers formed from wood-derived waste such as paper. A desirable property of waste polyolefin plastic lumber is its high resistance to biodegradation, which is the very property that makes landfill disposal of polyolefins unattractive. The problem with known plastic lumber, however, is that its storage and portability is much the same as the storage and portability of standard wood lumber. Compactness for storage and shipment is not its greatest attribute. Greater convenience for the storage and shipment and handling of plastic construction products is desired and necessary for an expanding construction use of polyolefin plastic.